Esme Song
Esme Song is a Senior (Grade 12) at Degrassi Community School. Prim and proper, a button-down keener on the outside, an erratic thrill-seeker on the inside, Esme's a student who lives in the moment. She's confident, knows what she wants, and isn’t afraid to manipulate others in order to get it. These antics are rooted in her desperate need for attention, so when things don't go according to her plan, Esme lashes out in manic, psychopathic ways. She was friends with Miles Hollingsworth III, on whom she used to have a crush on and was dating Zig Novak. She had a threesome relationship with Frankie and Zig Novak. She has conflicts with Winston Chu, Zoë Rivas, Maya Matlin, Tristan Milligan, Frankie Hollingsworth and Shay Powers. She is labeled as "The Bad Influence". She is portrayed by Chelsea Clark. Character History Degrassi: Next Class Season 1 In #NoFilter, she is in the same English class as Miles, Winston, Tristan, and Tiny. She doesn't speak but pays close attention to Miles. In #YesMeansYes, Esme becomes annoyed with Miles and Winston for talking in class. After telling them to stop multiple times she snips a piece of her hair and asks Miles to hold the scissors. Right after doing so, she raises her hand and tells the teacher Miles cut her hair. This results in Miles getting an after school detention. The next day, Miles and Winston confront her in the hall and she reveals that getting Miles detention was an elaborate ploy to get him out of the family dinner with his father. That evening, Esme and Miles sneak into Miles' father's apartment. While they sneak in, Miles asks Esme why she is helping him and she says she is new, needs friends, and she knows what it's like to have someone in your life you'd rather not. Esme suggests they try and find Miles' dad's laptop. As they're reading through his emails, a maid comes in to clean. Esme and Miles go into a closet to hide. Miles begins to panic and Esme covers his mouth with her hand, which doesn't quiet him. Esme then kisses him in order to keep him quiet, they then begin making out in the closet. The next day, Esme gives Miles advice and hands him her "happy-pills". She then kisses him on the cheek goodbye. In #NotOkay, Esme is seen with Miles at Lola's Cantina when they run into Tristan. When Tristan tells Miles that he is dating someone new, Esme mocks him by asking if they're soul-mates already. Tristan gets defensive and assumes Esme and Miles are dating. They laugh and jokingly agree they have "more of a sibling relationship", and then start kissing to make Tristan uncomfortable. Vijay walks up surprised to see Miles and asks him if they're eating together, Esme seems enthusiastic about the idea but Tristan shoots it down and they walk away. Esme is seen looking at Tristan after Vijay publicly dumps him. In #ButThatsNoneOfMyBusiness, Esme is first seen quickly slipping Miles a bag of pills before class starts. After talking with the teacher Miles sits next to Esme when Winston questions him. Winston sees the pills in Miles bag and realizes Esme has been supplying Miles with Lorazepam. Winston asks if the pills are addictive and she dodges the answer with a witty comeback. When Miles gets questionable about taking the pills, Esme informs him his anxiety will return if he stops. Later that day, Miles decides to quit taking the pills 'cold-turkey' and ends up having a panic attack during his interview. Miles calls Esme, who tells him to take another to calm him down, but Miles states he had flushed the pills. Esme stays on the phone with him and talks Miles through his panic attack. The next day Esme and Miles are seen breaking into the girl's locker room in order to search back-packs for anxiety meds to steal. Esme says they're looking for someone who is uptight, she then asks if Miles has seen Shay's bag anywhere. Once Miles finds pills, Esme tells him they're stronger than the ones she gave him but he takes them anyway. The next day, Esme is sitting next to Miles in class when Winston apologizes for snitching. During the boy's conversation, Esme is seen taking a pill from Miles as he states that she is "the only person that really cares" about him. In #NotAllMen, Esme and Miles are seen in the halls when an angry Hunter passes them. The two of them are seemingly high when they approach Hunter at his locker and he calls them delinquents. Esme is seen giggling as Miles makes jokes at Hunter. In #ThisCouldBeUsButYouPlayin, Esme approaches Miles in class and tells him he smells like a dumpster, or two. When he asks what happened the previous night; Esme states they snuck into a club and Miles stole liquor from the bar. She then tells Miles that by the time she was out of the club he was already gone. Miles is concerned he could have really hurt himself but Esme doesn't seem to care. She then hands him a bag filled with pills to take, which Miles accepts. Later that day, Esme and Miles stop at Lola's Cantina while extremely high. The two are uncontrollably giggly as Tiny approaches and tells them to leave. They're confused until Tiny states that Miles sent "junk pics" to Lola the night before. Surprised, Esme checks Miles' phone and finds the picture which makes her gawk. Miles takes the phone from Esme and tries to show Tiny his junk. Annoyed, Tiny pushes Miles which causes Esme to stand. Miles taunts Tiny further by preparing to flash him, but Miles trips and ends up hitting his head on the pavement. The next day, Miles is home with his Mother when Esme randomly enters. Miles is taken by surprise and asks her to politely leave. Esme doesn't take him seriously until Miles outwardly says they can't hang out anymore, which noticeably upsets her. Esme is rude to Miles before leaving his house, stating he has "no friends and a crap family". In #SinceWeBeinHonest, Esme is seen hiding wrist bandages while she walks into class. Once Miles notices them, she pulls her shirt sleeve on top of it. Concerned, Miles talks to Esme in the hall and she breaks down. She tells him she attempted to kill herself over their separation because Miles wanted her "out of his life". Overcome with guilt, Miles ditches Tristan and begins hanging out with her again. The two of them are sitting outside when Miles begins to question Esme about her suicide attempt. When Esme gets defensive, Miles removes the bandage from her wrist and realizes she never attempted to kill herself. Esme admits she faked self-harm because Miles was ignoring her. She tries to manipulate Miles which irritates him. When Esme desperately recommends that they run away together, Miles realizes she is a terrible influence on him and cuts her out of his life. Season 2 In #SquadGoals, Esme is seen sitting in class when Zig arrives late and takes the seat next to her. Later that day Esme and Zig are seen flirting by the printer. Maya awkwardly approaches the two of them to get her paper and interrupts their conversation which makes for an uncomfortable silence. The next day Maya is scrolling Zig's Hastygram which shows Esme hanging out with him at a party. Maya then asks Grace if she knows anything about Esme to which Grace replies "Who?", implying she does not. In #BuyMePizza, Esme is seen rolling her eyes as she watches Zoë audition. Esme is then called up next and as Zoë leaves the stage she gloats to Esme that she already got the part. Esme first questions who Zoë is and then tells her she didn't look like she wanted to kiss Winston. Zoë doesn't seem to care as long as Winston buys it, she reveals Winston has had a crush on her since "forever". Esme doesn't believe her and whispers in Zoë's ear that forever was a long time ago, she then catches Zoë staring at her chest. The two smugly agree that the best women will win. Zoë is later seen talking to Tristan about Esme. The next day, Zoë rudely interrupts Esme while she is studying to ask how she managed to get the part. Zoë then asks her to demonstrate how she did it and Esme reluctantly gets up to starts to delivering her lines. She then notices Zoë isn't even looking at her and after catching Zoë's attention they pick up where they left off and Esme pecks Zoë on the lips and encourages her to keep going with the scene. This causes Zoë to kiss Esme deeply in return which takes her by surprise. Esme is impressed and comments that if Zoë kissed Winston like that during the audition she would have gotten the part for sure. The bell rings and Zoë frantically leaves the classroom as Esme watches. Winston later gives Zoë the part over Esme and both she and Zoë seem saddened by it. In #ToMyFutureSelf, in class, Zoë and Winston present their project about Japan heritage, Esme accuses Zoë of being racist because Zoë dressed up as a geisha and they fight. The teacher tells Zoë and Winston to change their project idea. Later, Zoë and Winston apologize for their project while Esme watches unimpressed. After everyone else leaves, Esme tells Zoë what she thought about her apology but Winston intervenes and stands up for Zoë and Esme says sorry before leaving. In #RiseAndGrind, Esme watches Zig and Tiny's dance battle and tells Zig Tiny totally beat him. Zig thinks she's not an expert but Esme says her 12 years of dance training would beg to differ. Esme offers Zig some dance lessons but Zig says no until Tiny leaves and he tells Esme he needs her help, Esme says she thought she wasn't an expert, Zig says she is an expert and I would be lucky if you taught me even one move and begs Esme to help him, Esme agrees on the condition that he will work really hard. In the gym, Zig is dancing but Esme is not impressed. Zig gets pissed off and rants at Esme how he can't even be a good boyfriend and sucks at everything else. Esme says she can't believe they are talking about some other girl right now, dance is about confidence, fighting the doubt so forget about her and fight it and asks if he can do that? Zig says he can. Esme says he needs to start again. At school, Esme arrives and tells Zig that isn't part of the school dress code and asks how his job interview went?, Zig says it turned out to be a stripper and shows her the tights and tells her to laugh at him, Esme says she's disappointed because he worked hard and is actually good and offers him to join her dance troop over summer and says he doesn't even have to get naked for the audition before bailing. Season 3 In #BreakTheInternet, it is revealed that she and Zig began dating over the summer. In class tells Miles she was the one who reported Miles' posts on Facerange to Mr. Simpson. Later when Miles shows a bloodied Tristan to the class, Esme is triggered and shoves Miles, which causes Zig to take her away. Season 4 In #'#BackToReality', Esme returns to school with everyone else after their break, with Zig giving her a piggyback ride to school. Later in their art class, Esme wants to partner with Zig to recreate a Renaissance painting, but he decides to partner with Maya to make sure she's not alone. Esme tries to tell Zig to let Maya partner with Saad, but Zig still decides to work with Maya. Tiny tries to calm Esme down and tells her that they only broke up out of jealousy. However, this gives Esme an idea and she decides to partner with Saad. Later, Saad and Esme are about to work on the project, but he stops because of the guilt he felt when he allowed Maya to go up to the roof when she attempted to commit suicide. Esme gets him to stop talking about it so they can get to work. But immediately after she does this, she strips completely naked in front of Saad so that he could paint her as Venus for the project. The next day, they present the art piece to the class, which surprises almost everyone, including Zig. This starts an argument which gives Esme, Saad, Zig and Maya detention. In detention, Zig questions Esme on her actions, but she lashes back at him for siding with Maya and considers committing suicide herself. This leads Zig to apologize to her, but he feels guilty for pushing Maya away from him. Esme then tells him that Saad allowed her to go up to the roof, which causes Zig to confront him about hit, which ends with Saad's camera being broken. In #Preach, Frankie invites Esme and Zig over to her house to bake together, which ends with the girls toppling Zig and crawling all over him, starting their threesome relationship. Later at the rally to support the victims of the Brussels attack, Esme decides to ski[ it so she can eat burgers with Zig and invites Frankie to come with, but this causes her to rethink hanging out with Esme since rumors about the relationship they're in are surfacing. However, Esme still convinces her to come along. In #FactsOnly, Esme along with some of the others are talking about the colleges they got accepted to, but when Zig arrives they find out he was not accepted to his school, which causes him to worry about his relationship with Esme. Later, Frankie tries to console him about it and tells him that hanging out with him and Esme was some of the best times she had. Esme arrives soon after assumes that Zig wants Frankie instead of her. At Frankie's house, Zig shows up with some applications that Tiny gave him, but Esme tosses them into the swimming pool along with Zig, and the two along with Frankie talk about having a bad reputation but not actually doing anything that relates to that.. Right after, the girls take turns kissing Zig. In #Fire, Esme intends on going on the camping trip with Zig and the others and wants Frankie to come with, but she notes that they weren't invited. Esme believes that is only because Zig's friends hate her and want him to go back to dating Maya. However, Frankie suggests that Esme should try being their friend, instead of being selective about who she hangs out with. At the campsite, she attempts to hand everyone pot brownies, but everyone (except Maya) refuses. Desperate to let Zig know what would happen if they split up, Esme decides to get Zig to go skinny dipping with her and drags Frankie along to find a spot to swim at, but they end up getting lost for hours. Esme then reveal that this was all a part of her plan to have a threesome. Fed up with her erratic behavior, Frankie tries to talk her down, but Esme reveals that she used Frankie as a pawn to keep Zig focused on her and to morph Frankie into what she wants her to be. Esme then abandons her and ventures out on her own. Back at the camp, Esme spots Zig next to Maya (He was comforting her since she had a bad reaction the pot brownie). Not wanting to lose him, she fakes having an allergic reaction, but it's revealed to be an act and Frankie arrives right after. Zig then decides to go for a walk. The next morning, Esme tries get Zig on her side by saying Maya wants to take Zig away from her, but he doesn't believe her lies and finally realizes that he's been dragged into Esme's bad situations ever since they started dating. Esme desperately suggests forgetting everything and going back to what they are good at, but Zig tells her that sex isn't everything and breaks up with her, leaving her to cry inside their tent. In #Obsessed, Esme asks Zig when he's going to pick her up for prom, but Zig reminds her that they are no longer a couple and he is going with Maya. Later, Zig waits for prom to start since it got delayed by a bomb threat. In the meantime, Esme sends him nude pictures of herself in an attempt to get him back, but he shrugs them off. After prom starts, Esme arrives and catches Zig dancing with Maya. Outraged because of this and also because he blocked her, she threatens to kill herself unless Zig talks to her, and runs off into the woods. When Zig catches up to her, Esme tries to have sex with him, but he doesn't want any of that and that the relationship is over for him. Angry, she attacks him and causes him to fall into a ditch, injuring him. She then stands there in completely shocked about what she has done. In #KThxBye, Esme leaves prom after Maya comes to look for both her and Zig, with Esme blaming her for getting involved in their relationship and goes to Frankie's house to find ways to get Zig to forgive her. She later gets the idea to buy Zig a motorcycle from her cousin's bike shop. At the graduation, everyone is waiting for the ceremony to begin when suddenly Frankie arrives looking for Esme. Zig thinks she's graduating and is just late, but Yael and Miles tell him that she is not on the graduating list and she hasn't been to school for a month. Esme then arrives outside on a motorcycle for Zig. Zig then arrives outside with Frankie and Yael, where Esme tells him that they have to leave to get away from his friends. Zig then reminds her that he's graduating and he can't drive the motorcycle due to his injuries. Esme then angrily blames him for ruining her plans and explains that she did everything she could to keep them together, also revealing that she called in the bomb threat at prom. Then in a crazed outburst she smashes the motorcycle with a helmet and kicks it over. She then tries to attack Zig, which draws the attention of the Ms. Grell and some of the other staff. They manage to calm her down and Ms. Grell tells her that it's never too late to ask for help. Esme is then left sobbing in Zig's arms until Ms. Grell takes care of her. Quotes *(To Miles and Winston): "I missed what Mr. M said about iambic pentameter." (First Line) - #YesMeansYes *(To Zig): "Dance is about confidence, fighting the doubt so forget about her and fight it." - #RiseAndGrind *(To Mr. M.): "Miles cut my hair!"- [[YesMeansYes|'#YesMeansYes']] *(To Maya): "Do I look like the forgiving type?" - #Woke *(To Zig, about Maya): "She's ODing!" Zig: "Well should we try to make her throw up?!" Esme: "NO! No! You never do that! I learned that with my mom...we have to put her in prone position! And call 911!" - #ImSleep *"No one can know what's going on inside someone's head." - #ImSleep *(To Zig): "I'm the crazy one? Not Maya the one who tried to kill herself?" *(To Frankie): "I give you everything, and you turn on me." Trivia * She is one of eleven main characters who didn't speak in their first appearance. The other ten were Spike, Marco, Anya, Bruce, Connor, Riley, Luke, Cam, Shay, and Saad. * It is heavily implied that Esme has a psychological disorder, given the fact that she is known for her intense attention-seeking ways, self-destructive behavior, lack of impulse control, manipulative ways, and her loneliness and depression. Also, she has a prescription for anti-anxiety medication, which she gave to Miles during his self-destructive phase in Degrassi: Next Class (Season 1). * Esme was part of Degrassi's first polyamorous relationship - along with Frankie and Zig. *She stripped for Saad to make Zig jealous. *She is branded as rich. * She pretended to self-harm to get Miles back. * She shares similarities with former Degrassi characters Leia Chang, Bianca DeSousa and Imogen Moreno and Eli Goldsworthy. * Esme is Korean. * Esme has done 12 years of dance training. * Her mother committed suicide when Esme was ten and she found her body. * Esme was able to save Maya from her suicide attempt after learning what not to do with her mom. * Esme is one of nine characters to stop or save someone from killing themselves, the others being: ** Sean saved Craig in [[When Doves Cry (2)|'When Doves Cry (2)']] ** Tyler Bishop saved Sean Cameron in [[Back In Black|'Back In Black']] ** Jay saved J.T. in [[Turned Out (2)|'Turned Out (2)']] ** Manny saved Darcy twice in [[Standing in the Dark (2)|'Standing in the Dark (2)']]' '''and' Live to Tell' ** Marco and Craig saved Ellie in [[Degrassi Goes Hollywood|'Degrassi Goes Hollywood']] ** Fiona Coyne saved Dallas in [[Bitter Sweet Symphony (2)|'Bitter Sweet Symphony (2)]] ** Zig saved Zoë [[Believe (2)|'''Believe (2)]] ** Esme and Zig saved Maya in [[ImSleep|'#ImSleep']] * Esme is one of twelve characters to have been held back; the others being Rick Munro, Joey, Sean, Rick Murray (before his death), Jimmy, Spinner, Fiona, Tori, Imogen, Drew, and Jonah. **She is the first and only character to be held back in Degrassi: Next Class. * She is allergic to bees. * Esme was accepted into both Harvard and Columbia, but ended up skipping her classes for the last month and skipped her final exams, which led to her getting held back instead. * She has the highest episode count out of the new characters introduced in Next Class. Relationships Main article: Miles-Esme Relationship * Miles Hollingsworth III **Start Up: #YesMeansYes '(DNC 103) **Broke Up : '#SinceWeBeinHonest '(DNC 109) ***Reason: Esme got Miles into a drug addiction and faked a suicide attempt to get him to stay with her. *Zig Novak **Start Up: Before '#BreakTheInternet (DNC 301) **Broke Up : #Fire (DNC 407) ***Reason: Esme was scared that Zig would leave her for Maya, so she began to act out in intense ways, which eventually led Zig to break up with her. *Zig Novak and Frankie Hollingsworth **Start Up: #FactsOnly (DNC 406) **Break Up: #Fire (DNC 407) ***Reason: Zig broke up with Esme after she faked being stung by a bee/anaphylactic shock and abandoned Frankie in the woods. Love Triangles *Miles Hollingsworth III and Tristan Milligan **Start: [[SinceWeBeinHonest|'#SinceWeBeinHonest']] (DNC 109) **End: [[SinceWeBeinHonest|'#SinceWeBeinHonest']] (DNC 109) ***Reason: Miles realizes that Esme faked a suicide attempt to get him to stay with her and decides to be with Tristan instead. Interaction Category:Degrassi: Next Class Category:Female Characters Category:Degrassi: NC Characters Category:Degrassi: NC Teens Category:Seniors Category:Main Characters Category:Students Who Repeated A Year Category:Athlete Category:DNC Season 1 Category:DNC Season 2 Category:DNC Season 3 Category:DNC Season 4